Tagan glanced at the other men, as if seeing whether they thought he should continue. Or whether it was worth his breath if the lass wasn't even there.
They nodded to him.
"We will protect you and see you to a ship bound for your homeland, lass. The French knights will be slaughtered before they ever reach a port, and you with them—as everyone will assume you are as much a spy as them. More so, mayhap, as you have been secretly living among the people of the village of Banbh all this time. And who better to use as a spy than one who had befriended the people all these years, grown up with them, pretending she was one of them. 'Tis said you have made several excursions into England, gathering information for Robert Curthose and King Phillip."
Niall wondered if Tagan spoke any truth at all. Though it was true that Henry and his brother, Robert, were at war again. And the King of the Franks was the Norman duke's liege lord. But the part concerning Anora's kin, that's what he was concerned about. Not that she would have anything to do with any of it. She would never have abandoned her sheep to do such.
Tagan moved forward then, still not removing his sword, most likely believing if the lass were here, she had to be alone. Anora stayed close behind Niall as the other men joined Tagan, though as they approached the blackness, they slowed their steps.
"I wish we had a torch," the quieter golden-haired man said.
"Aye, spread out, wave your hands about, and see if you can find her," Tagan said.
Niall reached back and touched Anora, in a silent way telling her to move more toward the cave wall if she could. With her still at his back, together, they carefully stepped away from the men as they approached. But Niall's foot swept over a loose rock as he took another step. It moved. His heart stuttered, and he barely breathed. The sound of the rock's movement was slight, a clicking of rock against rock, and the men's footsteps were heavy, so he hoped the noise they made had covered his.
Yet they all stopped walking, and Niall was certain they had heard him.
"Did you hear that?" the dark-haired man asked.
"Aye, over there, to our left," Tagan said.
They all hurried in that direction.
Anora seized Niall's arm and pulled at him to move across the cave in a hurry. Their footsteps were virtually silent as the other men tromped in the direction Niall and Anora had been only moments before.
The men were to Niall's right still, heading for the cave wall when Niall heard footfalls behind him. He turned and peered into the blackness, but couldn't see a thing. Anora had stayed behind him, her hand touching his tunic as if to reassure herself Niall was still standing there with her, or to confirm to him that she had not made the noise. The other men were still to his right, but as soon as they heard the footfalls in the back of the cave, the men all headed that way.
"You canna escape us, lass. 'Tis only a matter of time before we find you. Make it easy on us and come out from your hiding place, or we will make you pay for the trouble you are causing," Tagan ground out.
A scuffling sound ensued as Niall tried to determine what was happening. Until one of the men screamed out in terror, sending chills up Niall's spine. The man's frightened screams grew fainter, disappearing, as if the granite had swallowed him up.
"There is a pot over there!" Tagan said, sounding just as alarmed. "Watch your step, mon," he said to his remaining companion.
The notion chilled Niall to the core, thinking Anora might have made a misstep when she had explored the black cave earlier.
"We got to get out of here. Could be us next," the man said, almost pleading.
"Nay, we heard the lass in here. We have to keep looking. Cian will have our heads if we return and say she wasna here and he doesna believe us. He would send someone else, and if he found her, it wouldna go well for us," Tagan said.
"Aye," the other man said, but sounding disconcerted.
The two men moved quietly now, attempting not to make a sound so that if Anora heard them, she could avoid them. But also, they were being extra careful not to make the same mistake as their friend had.
Again, noise came from the back of the cave. Footfalls, Niall thought. But there was no light.
"'Tis haunted," the one man whispered.
"Nay, keep searching for the girl," Tagan said, growing nearer to Niall as the other man moved away.
Tagan was too close. Niall tried to move out of his path, but his foot bumped against rock outcroppings, blocking his route. Niall reached out to touch Anora, to ensure she was not in his weapon's path. She must have realized what he had to do. She moved away from him.
His muscles tight with tension, he readied to fight the man.
Tagan kicked a rock with his foot a few inches away and the stone hit Niall's boot. He prayed he could kill the man with one blow. Niall swung hard and struck into the blackness with as much force as he could—and connected with something solid.
Tagan cried out. Good. At least Niall had wounded the brigand. Niall stood tense, waiting for another sound that would betray Tagan's current location. He couldn't tell if he'd moved away, fallen, or what else might have happened.
"What?" the other man shouted, sounding terrified.
Then Tagan began breathing hard, his head lowered as if he was bending over, clutching his injury. He wasn't unsheathing his sword. Not yet. Probably trying to handle the pain Niall had dealt him, just as Niall had attempted to control his own when the bastard had sliced him.
"What?" the other man said again, his voice hushed now. He was much farther away, nearer the location where Niall and Anora had stood in the beginning. "What is wrong?"
Tagan slowly unsheathed his sword, either afraid to get struck again and was trying to be quiet about it, or having difficulty with the task. Before he could swing his weapon at his unseen assailant, Niall struck a second blow in the direction he surmised Tagan now stood.
Tagan cried out again, only this time, he stumbled toward the entrance of the cave to get away from his hidden attacker. In the early morning light, he collapsed to his knees near the entrance, holding his chest, his sword arm bloodied.
The other man was breathing heavy now, not saying a word, probably horrified that someone stood in the blackness, armed and deadly. Just waiting for him to approach. And that someone was most likely not the lassie.
Niall focused on where the other man had spoken in the dark, though he couldn't fathom where the other footfalls were coming from. They had stopped the moment Tagan had cried out in anguish.
A tunnel at the back of the cave? A way out of here? If whosoever they were had torches, Niall would fight them for the life-saving light. If he and Anora could slip out through a tunnel, mayhap they could reunite with Gunnolf and Matthew and be on their way before anyone else was the wiser.
He was ready to battle the remaining man, but only if he drew close to Niall's location. Niall wasn't about to chase him in the pitch black cave and risk being injured and unable to protect Anora, or tangle with the pot where the other man had fallen to his death.
Niall could no longer feel Anora nearby, and he wished to make a connection with her, if nothing more than to ensure he didn't swing at her, believing she was the other man.
Then someone made a mad dash for the cave entrance, the blond-haired man, his sword out. He got behind Tagan, still on his knees, leaning hard to his left, who looked ready to fall over.
"Can you make it, mon?" the man asked Tagan, his hand on his shoulder, his other gripping his sword.
Tagan shook his head and slumped onto his side against the stone floor.
"What… what should I do?" the man asked, but Tagan didn't respond, and Niall suspected he had died of his wounds.
The man stared at the black cave for a moment, then said, "If the lass is with you, you can have her. I willna be returning here."
Niall didn't believe him. Well, mayhap this man wouldn't be returning, but he suspected he'd tell Cian what had happened, and more men would come. Niall's best hope was to fight
those in the tunnel, and leave that way before more of Cian's men could arrive.
The man sheathed his sword in a hurry, then scrambled over the side as if he was afraid Niall would rush out of the cave and kill him while he was defenseless. Niall would have, fearing this man would tell Cian what had happened and create more of a problem for Niall and the lass. But he was still worried about the footfalls he had heard at the back of the cave some distance hence. And so he stayed put and whispered, "Anora?"
"Here," she whispered back, several feet away.
"Stay where you are," he said, talking in a hushed voice. "I think men are coming this way through a tunnel."
"Aye," she said, and he swore he heard her teeth chattering.
He wanted to envelope her in his arms, warm her, take care of her, but if he had to fight…
The footfalls began again in their direction, closer. A rock slid across the cave, and the footsteps stopped abruptly. Deathly quiet prevailed inside the cave, as outside, the river rushed by in its never-ending quest to reach the sea.
Niall narrowed his gaze, sure he saw the faintest glimmer of light at the back of the cave. Or was it just a trick of his eyes? No, there. Like a candle flickering in the dark abyss, so faint, it appeared to be nearly nonexistent.
"Do you see it?" Anora whispered.
"Aye," Niall said, in just as hushed a tone. "Can you move this way, toward me, lass? I want you behind me."
Her light footsteps were careful as she made her way to him. He held out his hand and encouraged her in whispered words to guide her. When he brushed her outstretched hand with his fingers, he took hold and pulled her into his embrace, thankful to have her close again. He couldn't help himself when he should have moved her behind him, but instead, he held her tight, felt her trembling from the cold and mayhap from fright. He kissed her cheek, and she slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him close.
"If we get out of this—" she said.
"When we get out of this," he said against her ear.
"Aye, I will stay with you if you can live with me and Charlie and the puppy—if my being with your clan does not cause trouble for you and your kin."
Despite their dire circumstances, he couldn't help but smile at her. "Aye, lass. You and Charlie and the puppy, though I suspect both have made fast friends with Gunnolf, too. We will make it happen." He wanted to mention that they were already husband and wife and so she would have to stay with her husband, but he kissed the top of her head instead.
She nodded against Niall's chest.
For some time, he held Anora close, sharing his body heat with her, welcoming hers as she warmed him, but then the footfalls and the light drew closer. She still clung to him, as if she didn't want to give him up.
"Lass," he whispered against her ear again, "move behind me."
"So cold," she said, then reluctantly released him and moved around him, her body pressed against his back.
Anora couldn't stop shivering from the cold of the cave and her still damp clothes or the fear that whoever was approaching would fight Niall.
The cave was so dark that she hadn't witnessed what Niall had done to Tagan—only heard the deadly swish of Niall's sword—or at least she had hoped it was Niall's, and not one of the brigand's—felt the air move near her as the blade sliced through it. She had quickly taken a couple more steps backward, heard Tagan cry out, and she prayed he couldn't fight back.
When he unsheathed his sword with an ominous woosh, she feared he'd swing it and injure Niall this time. Relief washed through her when she saw the man stumble toward the cave entrance. The other man's calling out had chilled her to the marrow of her bones, reminding her the danger was still near.
Now that the two men had died and the other had scrambled out of the cave, and if he managed to survive the trip down the river, he would warn Cian of what had happened. But whoever approached from the tunnels was the new trouble they had to deal with. Two footfalls were coming, she thought, one behind the other—if her ears hadn't betrayed her. 'Twas hard to tell the way they echoed lightly off the walls in the distance.
Then the oddest noise, like something scurrying, claws against the rocks, headed in her direction. Rats instantly came to mind, her skin chilling. Goose bumps quickly covered her arms.
And then she heard a hushed voice say, "Charlie, nay."
Charlie? Gunnolf?
Chapter 17
Charlie's nails clicked on the rock floor in a rush. Before Anora could brace herself, he jumped against her legs in excitement, licking her hands and nipping at them. She was so happy to hug him, unable to see him, but she could envision him from memory.
"Gunnolf?" Niall quickly called out.
"Ja! We are coming."
Praise God.
"Take care! A pot is near the center of the cave. There may be more. We canna see." Niall moved closer to Anora, and Charlie stopped licking her and bumping against her to greet Niall.
He chuckled, and she felt Niall brush her body as he leaned down to pet Charlie. "Do you have the puppy?" She shouldn't have asked. How could the Viking have carried a puppy all the way here with him, and why would he want to?
"She is tucked in my tunic, sound asleep. I think she believes I am her mother," Gunnolf said.
Anora smiled and couldn't wait to have her in her arms again. Though she hadn't even thought of a name to call her. Then she had it. Zara. French, for little princess.
"How did you learn of the tunnel?" Niall asked, as they waited for Gunnolf and Matthew to make their appearance.
Her eyes followed the progress of the light wavering as it grew brighter the closer the men got to the mouth of the tunnel that led into the cave.
"Matthew said he and a few friends used to explore these caves in their youth," Gunnolf said.
Then the light grew closer and Gunnolf walked out of the narrow tunnel at the back of the cave, his blond bearded face awash in the dim light of the ancient rosity roots burning as a torch.
Anora wanted to wrap her arms around them both, relieved beyond measure that he and Matthew were safe and had found another way out of here for them. She had feared she'd never make it if she'd had to swim in the icy burn when she was certain the Frenchmen and the other Highlanders waited for her downriver.
Gunnolf glanced in the direction of the dead man.
"Tagan, the clansman who wounded me and left me for dead," Niall said, as Gunnolf offered them both dry brats.
"'Tis good he didna have me to deal with also. Let us leave at once," Gunnolf said, as Matthew joined them, carrying another torch.
"Anora," Matthew said, and made a step toward her as if to hug her, stopped suddenly, and she was certain the feral look on Niall's face made him change his mind.
"Come, we must go before anyone discovers our horses," Gunnolf said. "They are well hidden in a cave at the end of a maze of tunnels, but if they make any sound, someone may discover them. 'Tis good that Matthew knew his way through here, or we would never have reached you."
"Aye, we are very glad to see you," Anora said.
"I am pleased to see you both made it here. We couldna be sure, until we saw some of Cian's men return to the mouth of the canyon and begin the swim to locate the lass. So we assumed they had not located her downriver," Gunnolf said.
"How many men does he have?" Niall asked, helping to refasten her brooch to the dry brat.
Gunnolf cleared his throat. "About a dozen that we counted."
"Two less," Niall said, "if the three who came after her were part of that number."
"Aye, they were. I saw only one dead man. The other?" Gunnolf asked.
"He fell through the pot in the cave floor," Niall said, walking behind Anora as they made their way through the cold dampness in the tunnel.
But she already felt much warmer with the dry brat around her, having removed the damp one and placed it on the outside of the other. Still, she could have used a warm shelter and a raging fire to really chase away the chill. And someth
ing hot to eat.
They were quiet for a long time as she followed behind Gunnolf. Sore from making love with Niall, she was eager to be in a safe place where she and Niall could snuggle in a warm, and much softer bed. She could envision his hungry kisses and eagerly kissing him back, the way he touched her and made her shatter into a million pieces, and then… well, Jane had said the discomfort would go away—and Anora was ready to learn if that was so—only this time on something softer.
As Matthew led the way, Charlie ran in front of Anora. They continued on their way for what seemed like miles, twisting down one tunnel opening into a cave with rocks stretching down from the roof, and others reaching up from the floor, some meeting until they formed a column. The torches' lights sparkled off the crystals in the walls, and she'd never seen such a pretty sight. She touched some of them, marveling at them, realizing at once they were the same as the one in the torque Niall had given her. Then she noted Gunnolf had paused to smile at her, and she realized she was holding them up.
She should have been more concerned about their situation, but Niall said, "They are beautiful, are they no'?"
"Oh, aye," she said. "I have never seen anything like it."
Gunnolf moved his candle closer so she could see the crystals better. She looked at them in wonder, then smiled and thanked him.
And then they were on their way again.
She was surprised that Matthew had had such an adventurous time of it in his youth. She had thought he'd always stayed close to home, doing whatever his mother wanted of him.
"Thank you for coming to our aid, Matthew," she said, though she suspected he had only done so to help her, not Niall and his friend.
"'Tis the least I could do as I intend to marry you," Matthew said, his expression serious.
She caught herself before she let her breath out in exasperation and said anything about Tesslyn's claims. Or mentioned that she and Niall were already married. She would speak to Matthew of the matter when they could have a moment of privacy.